Trump White House says tariffs will be enacted Feb. 1

The Trump administration says it will impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China beginning Saturday, Feb. 1.

“The president will be implementing tomorrow 25% tariffs on Mexico, 25% tariffs on Canada and a 10% tariff on China for the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Friday’s briefing.

She did not provide details on the tariffs, instead stating that information would be available for the public in 24 hours.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia’s Democratic senior senator, responded a little after 3 p.m. Friday in a video statement posted on X, saying that voters elected President Trump because he promised to lower the cost of living, and increasing tariffs will not accomplish that.

“That’s going to mean higher prices for American cars,” Warner said in a video. “It’s going to mean higher prices for avocados. It’s going to mean a host of higher prices that you will see literally as soon as next week if this cost increase gets pushed onto you.”

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia’s junior Democratic senator, and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, introduced a bill Friday that would require Congress’ approval before the president could impose new or additional tariffs on U.S. allies and free trade agreement partners. Kaine said the tariffs are expected to raise costs of gas, cars, groceries and home goods.

“Virginians want costs to go down, not up. But President Trump’s plans to impose broad-based tariffs would raise the price of everyday goods and hurt our economy,” Kaine said in a statement. “It’s time for Congress to make it clear that no president should abuse existing tariff authorities designed to protect America’s national security from threats posed by our adversaries to slap tariffs on our allies and closest trading partners. I’m proud to introduce this legislation with Sen. Coons to take that step to protect Americans’ pocketbooks from sharp price hikes and safeguard our relationships with our allies.”

To speculate on the impact tariffs could have on the commonwealth and the country, Bob McNab, chair of Old Dominion University’s Department of Economics and director of the Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy, said Friday that he would need to know whether oil imports will be included in the policy.

“We’re sort of in a wait-and-see mode until we know exactly what goods from Canada, Mexico and China would be subject to a 25% tariff for Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff for China,” McNab said.

Broad-based tariffs, according to McNab, could lead to an increase in prices in Virginia and across the United  States. “Given that inflation has been somewhat sticky over the last several months, this would likely lead to higher rates of inflation in the short term,” he said.

As for Virginia-specific consequences, McNab pointed out that China is one of the countries with the highest volume of imports at the Port of Virginia.

“Even a 10% tariff on a broad volume of goods from China would lead to higher costs for importers through the Port of Virginia, and potentially lower demand through the port over time,” he said.